gitana1
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It really depends upon what the judge perceives makes a good parent. I know a woman who lost custody of her kids to her ex after a lengthy custody battle. The ex walked out on the family and initially had nothing to do with the kids, but knew that taking the kids away from the woman would hurt her. Judges would award primary custody to the woman, but the ex kept taking her back to court. The woman had a steady job, but was running out of money to continue fighting. The ex had a higher-paying job and he had re-married. The last judge they faced decided that the father was a better provider because he had a 2-parent household and a higher income. At that point, the oldest child (12) was deemed old enough to choose which parent he wanted to live with and chose his dad because the dad was making the kids a lot of promises, like buying them some fancy toys. The mother did get limited custody of the kids in that case.
It's very plausible that a judge would not award custody to a single parent who is homeless, unemployed and disabled because the judge takes into consideration the environment the children would be living in and the ability of the parent to provide for the children. While it's plausible, it's not entirely fair since it's not the material things that make a family.
In the state of California, the court cannot decide custody based in differences in economic status or income. That is remedied with child support orders. Instead, custody is decided based on best interest of the child.
For a parent to have virtually no visitation rights or very limited rights, drugs, alcohol, abuse, serious mental illness, domestic violence or failing to show up at hearings or engage in the court process, are what is at play, in my experience. It is extremely difficult to take away the right to be in your child's life in California and only happens under the most serious circumstances.
ETA: The courts here favor more equal parenting arrangements unless the parties live far apart.
ETA2: In California, attorney's fees orders can be awarded as well, if one person continues to out litigate the other. So in the case you mentioned, in California, someone like your friend would likely be entitled to an award of attorney's fees payable by the other parent.